Dragons in Council (Book 4 of the Northern Territories Series)

Chapter 2

Dragons in Council

Chapter 2

Forsythe’s POV

I meet Carson, a close friend of mine, at a bar in Port Regalia. He has found a cute little pixie girl to entertain him while he waits for me.

I cross the bar, smirking at him. “I’d apologize, but you don’t appear to have had a difficult wait, old friend.”, I call in Draconic. Dragonian use our own tongue when speaking to another dragon.

He chuckles and kicks a chair back with his foot, “Have a seat, Forsythe. This little lady is Hera.”, he replies in her tongue.

She giggles, “It’s Fora.”, she corrects.

I smile, only this man could mess up a woman’s name and still have her remain in his lap. “I’m sorry, my sweet. Fora, Forsythe. This is Fora. Fora, this handsome gentleman is my dear friend, Forsythe. Now, I’m going to let you go entertain your friends. They’ve been starved your attention long enough. In a few minutes, you can bring them over and introduce them to Forsythe. Perhaps one of them will enchant him as much as you do me.” The pixie blushes and giggles, climbing from his lap. He squeezes her ass as she walks away from him.

“Your mother would not approve.”, I tell him teasingly, reverting back to Draconic.

He laughs, “Nor would father, that is why neither accompany me. How was Saura?”, he asks, settling in our native tongue. He has never met her, but he knows of all that has transpired in my time knowing her. Carson and I had Chosen one another years ago, after I blocked Vritra.

“She isn’t ready to leave him yet. I’m not sure what holds her back. He doesn’t pulse against her anymore, but I know he hurts her. She lies to me and tells me he doesn’t.”, I reply, accepting the drink he passes to me. It is meant for lycan, so it has a nice burn. It takes the edge off the anger in me.

“He probably has her convinced it is worse without him, Forsythe. Vritra is a piece of s**t. I know killing him would hurt her, but you should just do it. He’s hurting her anyway.”, Carson says, accepting another drink of his own.

“I would, Carson, but that is the pain she chooses. Not the pain forced on her. If she wants to accept that from him, who am I to force her away? I’m no better than him at that point.”

He sighs heavily and sets his drink down. “You are not capable of being like him, Forsythe. Do not ever say anything of the sort to me, ever again.”

I take another drink of my whiskey and sit back in the chair. The heaviness I feel leaving her behind is depressing.

“There are too few of us left in existence to lose another. Vritra has replaced himself, it harms nothing to kill him now. The day will come. She will choose to leave and when she does, you will take her. It is a matter of time before he comes to fight you. When he does, kill him. You will care for the fledgling, no matter his age; teach him what it really means to be dragonian and you will make sure his father’s legacy is buried with him. Aragon will not be Vritra.”

“Waiting for her to be ready to leave is what is most difficult, Carson.”, I reply.

He studies me from across the table, “You care about her. Be careful, Forsythe. Mating with another dragonian mate, whose fledgling you’re tied to, will not bode well with your mate when she comes.”, he warns.

I do want Saura, she is a very attractive woman. She has a nice roundness to her, a softness that many lack. She has a pear shape body with thick curves in all the right places. I bet she tastes much sweeter than she looks. Her long curly auburn hair falls around her and makes her violet eyes brighter. She has a smooth olive complexion, a little nose, and wide full lips. Carson is right though, it is not acceptable for me to even want her.

“It’s okay to want her, Forsythe. Just don’t touch her.”, Carson tells me after a moment. I look up at him.

“I won’t touch her, brother. I will not harm her or my mate for my own selfish desires.”

Carson raises his glass to me then finishes it. “Let’s see if you don’t find another, more acceptable, option to relieve those urges on.”, he smirks as he waves Fora back over to us.

I laugh at him. I have no interest in his harlots. He has a taste for lots of women, one I outgrew long ago.

Saura’s POV

To my relief, Vritra left again. I’m weak and tired, but Forsythe said Aragon needed to go out of the shield every 4-5 hours and we certainly weren’t out there for an hour yesterday when Vritra sat with us. He didn’t allow me to take him back out again. I drink a vial of compound that Forsythe brings me. It helps me regenerate faster after Vritra feeds from me. It enhances the lethargy, but Aragon will sleep for a while after eating and going outside. I’ll pick some berries while we are out there.

I conjure a playpen and open his little blanket, letting him lay under the sun. He happily kicks his feet and coos, rolling onto his tummy to look around. I feel the dragon, but he is distant.

I kneel and pick berries, filling my small conjured basket, enjoying the warm sun and the breeze. It’s quiet and peaceful, only Aragon’s sweet little sounds.

I look around a little again, I still have no idea where we are. Things have changed so drastically out here in the time I was in Vritra’s shield before Aragon’s conception. If I could just find my family, my uncle would contact the Fae Royals. Maybe they could protect me from Vritra.

I suddenly feel the dragon growing closer. The one Vritra fears is coming and he is closing in quickly. Lost in my thoughts, I hadn’t felt him coming. My heart races as I drop the basket and rush to Aragon. I snatch him from the playpen and I run as quickly as I can into the shield. We’re almost in the house when I see a large azure dragon with gold scales dipping at the iridescent bubble that is the shield.

He forces a link open and yells angrily, “COME OUT, VRITRA! You cannot hide from me forever. When you die, your shield will fall, Vritra. Who will protect your fledgling?” I try to calm down, my mind is racing and I can’t think clearly with the panic invading me. I could summon Forsythe, but would that make this better or worse?

He circles the shield, moving in closer before gliding back up. He can’t get in the shield. If I just stay put, he can’t hurt us. I remind myself.

“Come out and face me, Vritra. I’ll let your fledgling live.”, he calls out again. I wish I could get Vritra to come, I can’t summon him. I only have Forsythe’s medallion.

My gut clenches when he calls out to me instead, “Has your mate told you what he has been doing? Has he told you why I’m here? Why your entire family is going to die?” Dread fills me; the tired and achy feeling I had before becomes nauseating.

“Your mate kidnaps young women and murders their families for breeding cells. He drains elementals, leaving them helpless when he delivers them to be raped and abused by the men that pay him. He stole my mate before I found her. I gave him the opportunity to face me alone, he denied me and made me hunt him.” I find that I’m not entirely shocked by this. Vritra is a cruel and ugly creature. I stand and he pulses against the shield, the ground quakes and the house shutters. I move quickly away from the house, but stay in the shield.

“You see how much you matter to him? He could’ve faced me alone. He could’ve spared your son’s life, little mate, but he hides from me! Even now that I’ve found you and his fledgling.” He pulses harder and more frequently. Vibrations echo through the shield, the ground quakes, and the house rattles. I can hear things crashing and breaking through the house. Aragon begins to cry.

“COWARD!”, he screams angrily in my mind. I quiet Aragon and conjure a chair to sit and let him comfort feed. I take a deep steadying breath and answer the dragon, hoping he will calm down some. “I did not know, dragon. Please, let me and my son go. We are not a part of his crimes.”

His head tilts as he circles, then lands about twenty feet from where I sit with Aragon. He can’t see us, We are still within the shield. It gives around him, allowing him to be in the yard with us, but beyond his reach. He is huge and his growly breath sends a tremor through me.

“What species is your blood, little mate?”, he asks, more softly to me but still threatening.

“I am fae.”, I try to answer as confidently as I can.

“If he comes out, I will let you and your baby live, little mate. Your kind can survive the death of their mate. Send him out, block your bond. You will not feel what I’m going to do with him, only his death.” Tears run over my cheeks, Vritra isn’t here. I can’t send him out. I can’t give this dragon what he wants and he is going to kill Aragon. “Tick tock, little mate. I’m losing my patience!”, he calls a little louder in my mind.

“He isn’t here, dragon. He left four hours ago. I came out of the shield to pick berries. Can my child and I come out? We will leave with his Chosen, I can summon him. He isn’t like Vritra.”, I beg. Forsythe will know what to do. If he will just let me call him, Forsythe can fix this.

"Summon your MATE, little fae.", he suggests like I’m a complete i***t. I wipe my tears and take a deep breath as I answer.

"I... I don't know his name.", I admit, hoping that doesn’t further anger him.

His head tilts as he looks through the shield, like he is searching for us. "Say that again, I don't think I understood correctly. You're telling me you can summon your Chosen, but not your mate?", he asks in dismay.

"I don't know his name, dragon. I swear, I don't know. I don't have a medallion for Vritra. I have no way to summon him. Forsythe is not like Vritra. Please, I'll summon him. He will tell you himself.", I beg him to believe me. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true! How do I make him see that I’m telling him the truth?

“How do I know you won’t just come back to him once he has found a new hiding spot, little mate?”, he taunts as he moves, pacing through the shield.

“I will give a blood oath never to return to him. I’ll request his Chosen do the same with his favor to me. Please, dragon. Show the mercy you wanted for your own mate. My son and I are innocent in this.”, I beg him. The house is in shambles, Vritra will know what has happened. Forsythe won’t be betraying his oath to protect us if he takes us from Vritra now. As for the way dragonian are, I’ll take Forsythe’s abuse over Vritra’s; Forsythe might let me go once he finds his own mate.

It seems like eternity for him to reply. He just stands there trying to look through the shield. “Summon his Chosen. If he agrees, I will let you and your fledgling leave under your oath, little mate.”

I exhale a relieved breath and place Forsythe’s medallion to my lips, speaking his name against it and forcing Vritra’s power into it. I feel a pulse, like he said I would, and know he is coming. Even without having ever dared summon him before. Vritra would seriously hurt me if he ever found out, but he couldn’t take Forsythe’s medallion. Vritra knew that if Forsythe ever saw me without it, Forsythe would challenge him. Dragonian take theft of their property as seriously as murder. “It is done. He will be on his way.”, I assure him, praying he will be patient.

He looks upward, scanning the sky. I do the same. Forsythe, please hurry, I pray.

Aragon has fallen asleep. I adjust my top and rock him gently, more for my sake than his now. I feel Forsythe when he arrives. The dragon calls to him in the open link, “Land, so we can have a conversation with your Chosen’s mate.”

Forsythe lands and drops his concealment. His large slate grey dragon with smoke red scales and red tipped wings. Forsythe pulses once against the dragon, I’m not sure why. The dragon tells Forsythe his name is Apep, and continues with all he told me earlier of Vritra’s actions. “MY little fae seems to think highly of you.”, he claims me for himself, Forsythe tilts his head. “She believes you’ll betray your brother for her. You’ll be taking an oath to never allow him any contact with his mate or fledgling again. If you accept, I will allow you to take my claim, they will be your own. If you deny, she and her fledgling are mine.”

I know there isn’t any chance of Forsythe siding with Vritra, but part of me knows I’ve been wrong before. I pray Forsythe accepts and takes us away. I do not wish to find out what being Apep’s entails.

Forsythe’s POV

I’m somewhat amused that Vritra has landed himself in such a predicament with a dragon like Apep. I’ve heard of this man, I’ve met his Chosen. There are very few as powerful as them. I will gladly take Saura from Vritra; him making her give an oath only makes that easier for me to do. It wasn’t me that took her mate away or killed him. She can’t hate me for that later.

“I am Forsythe. Neither Saura, nor I were aware of Vritra’s actions, Apep. I would never condone violating the Code. I will accept my end of her deal and give the oath she promised. We have your word that they are safe in your presence once they exit the shield?”, I link back to him. I know Saura speaks Draconic, she knows what is being said.

“You have my word, if you both give your oath, I will allow you to leave peacefully and will not pursue any of you.”, he gives it immediately. There are no lies or hesitation in his words. I shift and he follows, only his flame lit eyes remain with vertical slits as he watches me.

I keep an eye on him as well. “Saura, bring Aragon. You’re safe, come to me.”, I call for her to exit the shield. Saura steps out of the shield and moves into my side, back away from Apep. I can feel her fear, he must’ve frightened her when he came for Vritra.

I put my arm around her, still allowing her to shield herself and Aragon with my body, and take her palm, piercing it with a single shifted claw. Her sweet voice sounds stronger than I know she feels right now, “I, Saura Vista, swear to you by my blood, Apep, that I will leave with my child and neither of us will have any contact with Vritra as long as we live.”

Apep raises his gaze from Saura to me. I bite into my own palm, “By my blood, I, Forsythe of Omens, swear to take Saura and her fledgling from Vritra and will not allow any contact with him as long as we live.”

Apep bites into his own palm, “By my blood, I, Apep the Annihilator, accept and hold you both to your oath.”, he steps forward and takes my hand first, then Saura’s. She stays tucked against my side. Apep makes no move to get around me. He has no interest in terrifying her, he let’s her feel safe where she is. The pulse of the oath sealing makes him grin. He is happy with being able to take Vritra’s mate and child, without having to care for them to draw him in. He wouldn’t actually do anything to her. Dragonian mates are highly honored, even if their dragon is not. They’re the only source of love and peace ever gifted to us, and the bearers of our kind. He wants to fight Vritra, not cause his death through Saura.

“You’re free to go.”, he bows his head slightly to me. I return his gesture and lift Saura into my arms. She snuggles Aragon tightly to her chest and I close my concealment, conjuring a blanket to shield him from the wind before shifting and carrying them away. I’ve waited for this day for what feels like eternity. I get to take Saura away from Vritra, his abuse, and his lies.

Saura’s POV

I have a sense of relief at leaving Vritra behind now. I block him as the other dragon instructed. As Forsythe descends, I find myself anxious over what is in store for me, here with him.

He lands and drops his shield. “It is better for Aragon to be unshielded. If you’re afraid, I can bring it back up.”, he offers.

I shake my head, “No, if you feel we are safe, I want him to have what he needs.”

Forsythe sets me down, his house does not look much different from when he brought me here to deliver Aragon. He has moved it, but this is clearly a design he prefers as it looks just the same. “He will still need to come outside and get sun, but no more than any other child. With the shield down, he has a connection to the earth, even inside the conjuring.”

“I appreciate you coming for us.”, I tell him as he holds the door open, allowing me to pass him into the house.

Forsythe’s POV

“I told you I would, Saura. I’ve asked you to let me, so many times. This hasn’t been forced on me. I want to take care of you and Aragon.”, I assure her. I feel her anxiety and I know she is struggling to leave Vritra behind. I hate that she does, her loving him eats at me.

She nods as she sits on the couch to change Aragon. She coos at him and he smiles, mimicking her sounds. He doesn’t respond to his name when she says it though. It baffles me. Dragonian have a tie to their mother, she gives the name they're known by to the world. He should feel her when she says his name.

“Saura, did you choose Aragon or did Vritra?”, I ask her, trying to make sense of it. I never noticed it before. She is usually talking to me though. I delivered him, that was the name she gave me, but maybe that wasn’t her choice.

“Vritra. He liked how close it was to dragon.”, she replies as she stands. I take the soiled diaper from her and toss it in the trash.

“Saura, you must give him his name. It is the mother’s tie to the dragon. The mother is to name the fledgling. When you say the name you’ve chosen for him, it calls him to you. It is a survival instinct, he is drawn to your voice, as he is my power.”, I insist.

She searches my eyes, “He is already Aragon though.”, she replies.

“No, he is a dragon with no name being called Aragon. Being called something does not make it who you are. You must name him.”

“Well… how will I know that what I named him stuck.”, she asks, confused.

I chuckle, “You’ll know because he will respond to it, Saura. He will feel you.”

She looks down at him in her arms and plays with his little hand. “I wanted him to be Oberon.”, she says finally. He coos loudly and grins at her, kicking his little feet. It brings a smile to my face. We will erase Vritra from his fledgling, beginning with the name he never had the right to give.

“Oberon suits him.”, I reply.

She smiles at me, “Vritra said that dragonian should not have fae names. Is that his name now?”

I smile and reach for him, “Let’s find out.” I tell her as she passes him to me. He immediately takes hold of my shirt and tucks his face into my chest. My power is familiar and calming for him. He feels our bond as I do. “Call him ‘Aragon’ first so you’ll know that it is the name you’ve given that draws him, not just your voice.”, I tell her, stepping back away from her.

“Aragon.”, she says, but he doesn’t react. He continues rubbing his face on my shirt. “Oberon.”, she calls, less certainly. He immediately coos, releasing my shirt and turning to look for her.

“That is the mother’s tie to the dragon, Saura. His name is Oberon.” She smiles happily and accepts him back from me when he spots her. “Go rest, I can tell you’re depleted. I’ll watch over Oberon.” Vritra has been feeding from her, she’s exhausted. She nods, conjuring a mat and toys for Oberon, before laying him on his belly in the floor. She lays on the sofa, watching him kick his feet and try to scoot as she falls asleep.